the most famous in brown v. board which the court held it was unconstitutional. so why wait until 1967 to hear the case about interracial marriage. here are all of the states that had laws on the books. banning interracial marriage. by 1967 only 16 states still had the laws on the books. in the decades between 1947 and 1967 the years the supreme court was staying mom on the issue, most states decided on their own. the court was following on their heels, following the heels of public opinion. this is a big debate in the legal world. the supreme court influenced by american public opinion? these are nine people who could completely ignore the will of the people. they are appointed for life. they can totally ignore us if they choose. many legal experts say that's not how it works. they are swayed by what the people think about issues. they anoubsed they would hear two cases involving same-sex marriage. that's huge. they would hear the prop 8 case out of california. that's the california ballot proposition which amended the california constitution to define marriage